vibrant Dossier v. 14, n. 3 | September – December 2017 The Urban Peripheries Editorial board Alba Zaluar (UERJ), [email protected] Antonio Arantes (UNICAMP), [email protected] Bela Feldman Bianco (UNICAMP), [email protected] Carmen Silvia de Moraes Rial (UFSC), [email protected] Claudia Fonseca (UFRGS), [email protected] Cornélia Eckert (UFRGS), [email protected] Jane Beltrão (UFPA), [email protected] João Pacheco de Oliveira Filho (UFRJ/MN), [email protected] Karina Kuschnir (UFRJ), [email protected] Lux Vidal (USP), [email protected] Manuela C. da Cunha (Universidade de Chicago), [email protected] Mariza Peirano (UnB), [email protected] Omar Thomas (UNICAMP), [email protected] Paul Elliott Little (UnB), [email protected] Rafael M. Bastos (UFSC), [email protected] Ruben Oliven (UFRGS), [email protected] Simoni Lahud Guedes (UFF), [email protected] ii vibrant v.14 n.3 vibrant v. 14, n. 3 09 – 12 / 2017 Honorary Editor: Peter Henry Fry, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Editor: Antonio Carlos de Souza Lima, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Editorial Assistant: Roberta Ceva International relations: Gustavo Lins Ribeiro, Universidade de Brasília Design & typesetting: Tarcísio Osório Ferreira [email protected] Cover image: Photograph taken by Flávio Lara Sponsors V626 Vibrant : Virtual Brazilian Anthropology / Associação Brasileira de Antropologia. Vol. 1, n. 1/2 (jan./dez. 2004) – . Brasília : Associação Brasileira de Antropologia, 2004 - v. Quadrimestral ISSN 1809-4341 1. Antropologia - Periódicos. I. Associação Brasileira de Antropologia. CDD : 301 iv vibrant v.14 n.3 v. 14, n. 3 vibrant 09 – 12 / 2017 Articles 1 Is natural selection a chimera? Reflections on the ‘survival’ of a principle Gláucia Oliveira da Silva 22 Sexual desire, testosterone and biomedical interventions: managing female sexuality in “ethical doses” Fabíola Rohden 34 Biological Anthropology in Brazil: a preliminary overview Verlan Valle Gaspar Neto 58 Trust, gender and personhood in birth experiences in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Claudia Barcellos Rezende Dossier “The Urban Peripheries” 72 Presentation: Challenges from Peripheries Neiva Vieira da Cunha, Jussara Freire, Hélio R. S. Silva I - State violence: militarization of urban peripheries and ‘pacification apparatus’ 75 The church helps the UPP, the UPP helps the church pacification apparatus, religion and boundary formation in Rio de Janeiro’s urban peripheries Carly Barboza Machado 91 Notes on the police presence in the urban periphery of Salvador Hildon Oliveira Santiago Carade 113 Our Dead Can Speak: Social Displacements, Affects, and Political Action in Comparative Perspective Liliana Sanjurjo 132 Houses, tranquility and progress in an área de milícia Marcella de Araujo Silva vibrant v.14 n.3 v v. 14, n. 3 vibrant 09 – 12 / 2017 149 State, market and administration of territories in the city of Rio de Janeiro Márcia Pereira Leite 171 Violent action among friends: an ethnographic reflection on processes of moral and emotional perceptions and justifications of conduct Mauro Guilherme Pinheiro Koury, Raoni Borges Barbosa 192 From disarmament to rearmament: elements for a sociology of critique of the Pacification Police Unit Program Palloma Menezes, Diogo Corrêa 216 Transformations in Community Associations and Political Processes in a Rio de Janeiro “Favela” Livia De Tommasi, Dafne Jazmin Velazco II - Socio-spatial sexualities and agency: gender and feminine power field 238 Formal attire from one side of the “bridge” to the other: the wedding market and class and gender relations inscribed in the territory of the city Michele Escoura 257 Making out with the city (homo)sexualities and socio-spatial disputes in Brazilian “peripheries” Ramon Reis 279 Political displacements between the periphery and the center through territories and bodies Rachel Barros, Juliana Farias vi vibrant v.14 n.3 Article Is natural selection a chimera? Reflections on the ‘survival’ of a principle Gláucia Oliveira da Silva Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, RJ, Brasil Abstract My objective is to discuss the persistence of the notion of natural selection in the biological sciences, exploring the fact that: (1) this notion, just like the term culture in anthropology, is historically an inaugural concept in its particular scientific field, and, insofar as both possess a value of heuristic delimitation, both thus came to be considered as explanatory concepts, although today they may be more widely accepted as descriptive in kind; (2) this persistence seems to be equally linked to the fact that the term combines randomness and teleology, but without foregrounding the inherent contradiction; (3) the anthropomorphic metaphors generally used in the description of biological processes, by attributing intentionality to beings lacking in self-determination, presume the existence of a nature defined by processes oriented towards precise ends, endorsing the finalism that, I believe, underlies the idea of natural selection; (4) and, finally, I think that ‘culture’ and ‘natural selection’ correspond to disciplinary labels – for social anthropology and biology respectively – that arose in Victorian Britain, as defined by the Great Divide, but they no longer have explanatory power. Keywords: natural selection; biology; randomness and teleology. Seria a seleção natural uma quimera? Reflexões sobre a “sobrevivência” de um princípio Resumo Meu objetivo é discutir a permanência do conceito de seleção natural nas ciências biológicas considerando que: (1) este, bem como o termo ‘cultura’, sendo conceitos historicamente inaugurais em seus respectivos campos científicos, e tendo assim valor de delimitação heurística, passam a ser considerados como conceitos explicativos, embora atualmente possam ser mais aceitos como conceitos descritivos; (2) a permanência parece estar ligada igualmente ao fato de o conceito conjugar aleatoriedade e teleologia, sem que seja ressaltada a inerente contradição; (3) considero que as metáforas antropomorfizadoras, usuais na descrição de processos biológicos, ao emprestarem intencionalidade a seres desprovidos de autodeterminação, pressupõem a existência de uma natureza de processos que se orientam para finalidades precisas, endossando o finalismo que acredito estar subjacente ao conceito de seleção natural; (4) e, finalmente, avento que ‘cultura’ e ‘seleção natural’ correspondam antes a seus epítetos disciplinares – antropologia social e biologia – surgidos na Grã-Bretanha vitoriana, conforme limites estabelecidos pelo grande divisor, do que propriamente revelem poder explanatório. Palavras-chave: seleção natural; antropologia e biologia; acaso e teleologia; adaptacionismo e finalismo; natureza e cultura e143001; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1809-43412017v14n3p001 Vibrant v.14 n.3 1 Quant aux sciences, elles poseraient une seule question proprement historique: pourquoi ne se sont-elles pas développées plus tôt, pourquoi la raison humaine a-t-elle été si longtemps obscurcie pas les opinions irrationnelles? Isabelle Stengers For José Roberto Introduction The biological sciences, until recently solidly based on Darwinist foundations, have been experiencing some profound changes. One such change, endorsed by the scientists Jablonka and Lamb (2010), proposes – albeit through the adoption of innovative approaches – the revival of a fairly old conception, today known as neo-Lamarckist. Yet however radical these questionings of contemporary Darwinism may be, they always leave unscathed its distinctive concept, namely the principle of natural selection. The aim of this article is to provide a panorama of these critiques and suggest an explanation for the persistence of the concept of natural selection. My intention is not, therefore, to interrogate its scientificity, given that this could only be questioned from the viewpoint of (political) epistemology) (Latour 2004: 354). Rather I wish to engage in an anthropologically-informed reflection on why the scientificity of this concept/principle continues to be reaffirmed even when its theoretical framework is thrown into question. Consequently, the present article is greatly influenced by the anthropology of Tim Ingold, which Carvalho and Steil (2013: 64) very aptly characterize as “immersed in life.” In examining why the principle of natural selection still remains a scientific principle of practically hegemonic heuristic value in the biological sciences even today, despite the huge transformations seen in the field biology, I have in mind that the background to the proposed discussion is summarized by the expression ‘Romantic drive’ of Luiz Fernando Dias Duarte (2012), understood as a tendency in Western cosmology that always appears in tension with its opposite, the Enlightenment drive. Some of the eminent authors who, in biology, as well as anthropology, who have been closely involved in the series of critiques reinvigorating their respective disciplines, and are represented in this work, can be identified, according to Duarte, as authors associated with the ‘post’ moment, an expression of a neo-Romantic movement (Duarte 2004: 16), who, though rejecting existing theoretical systems, nonetheless bring to light values central to the Romantic ideals. Among these values, the author highlights the desire to apprehend flows and totalities, focusing on the sensible, rather than remaining content to comprehend the world without the unpredictability of living phenomena, excluding the whole and